Slow start but the Philippines are coming to life !!

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Days 53-54 (Mon 29^th Oct – Tues 30^thOct)



I arrived in Manila on the Monday morning around half 10 and after getting some Peso’s out of the cash point headed for the taxi rank and got a taxi to the area my hostel is in. The driver couldn’t actually find it but I knew from the street names and that I’d looked on google maps we were close so I paid and got out and walked around for 5 minutes or so until I found said hostel.

As the Philippines is spread out over 7107 islands and I planned on visiting at least a few of the larger ones and some more of the smaller ones I decided to use my first couple of days in Manila to get things sorted out. As I’m travelling I do my research, I don’t have loads of prior information into where I particularly want to go, just take it as it comes. However, the Philippines isn’t always the easiest place to get around so I decided to take a few days to work out a basic route and destinations. Manila itself is pretty grotty and most travellers would say to only pass through it but as I have 3 days I can afford to use a couple days to make plans. First it to get sorted a route which I have done now and on Thursday when it comes to leaving Manila I know which direction I’m taking, heading north to the rice terraces and the old colonial Spanish towns that still exist from the Spanish rule. As this is harder to navigate than the islands and beaches as they all generally have airports with cheap flights I thought I’d do this first.

I have walked around Manila a bit, got caught in the most torrential but short rain shower I’ve ever seen, within 30 seconds I was completely soaked and 9 hours later my clothes are still wetter than if they’d been washed in the machine. I am enjoying the cuisine, lots of little stalls and small shops serving incredibly cheap and good food for less than £1 and as English is a main language here I can finally ask if I need to know anything so from that point of view I like it. The poverty around Manila though is impossible to ignore, from children walking around naked asking for money or plentiful amounts of people lying in doorways and street corners, also the amount of prostitution is amazing. I was approached at noon in a mall of all places by a woman trying to sell herself. I had heard some areas were bad for it but I was severely shocked by this. The woman even followed me nearly all the way back to my hostel, until I gave her 20 pesos (30p) to leave me alone. Seemed worth it to get rid of her.

Spent the remainder of the first 2 days drinking Red Horse, a beer made by San Miguel, at 60p a bottle and 6.9%!s(MISSING)trength it’s going down well.



Days 55-56 (Wed 31^st Oct – Thurs 1^st Nov)



Wednesday I got my visa extended to stay in the Philippines beyond the 21 day free visa you get on arrival. To get this I had to go to the Bureau of Immigration, fill in 1 form, pay my money, wait an hour and get the stamp in my passport. It’s a very simple process and costs around 45 pounds, PHP 3030. The only issue to this is you have to dress smart, and wearing shoes, proper trousers and a collared polo in 35 degrees makes it incredibly hot. The people sat in the waiting room for the issuance of the visa are literally dying in the heat, but I got my extension and went back to the hostel to sleep as I got no sleep at all the night before.

A girl in the next bed had obviously been on a session, coming in at 4am and snoring heavily and my earplugs have gone missing one by one so I’m currently left with 1, not much use. Ended up with toilet paper in my ears to try and sleep. Woke up in the evening and went to the bar, being Halloween there was a party and free food, always a good reason to go to anything. After chatting to the bar staff about football and Manny Pacquiao I got chatting to 2 German cousins (Daniel and Melissa) who’d been travelling around for the last 3 weeks, so had plenty of tips and we’re also into football, makes any conversation easier when that’s the case. I can’t really remember what time the party ended but I believe I left at about half 3, after being the pool champions all night, we ended up playing for drinks and money so did well out of it. Drinking Red Horse from 6pm until then was only going to give me a lot of pain in the morning but it was a good night, very enjoyable.

Woke up Thursday morning with as expected a belting headache, that even 4 paracetamol couldn’t shift. Staggered into the shower and then out into the common area where Daniel and Melissa were playing backgammon, so managed to learn the rules to that, just about, whilst trying to sit upright. They seemed far fresher than I was. We went to the hostel bar and had lunch which was followed by them going for a nap and me sprawling over the couch in the common area. Got an hour or so’s sleep and back to the bar to play some pool before I left.

I left around half 7, to get a train across town to a bus terminal to await my 9 hour bus ride to Banaue, home to the Philippines famous rice terraces. I was looking forward to this but not the bus ride one bit, was still hanging when I got to the bus. The bus left at 9pm so it was going to be a long long night.



Day 57 (Fri 2^nd Oct)



The bus arrived into Banaue at 6am, an hour earlier than schedule although I feel blessed it even arrived. There was a 2 hour stretch where the road is ‘being constructed’ so it was rough as anything with potholes and cliff edges everywhere, as I said I was the only one awake and had no chance as I was holding onto the seat for dear life in some stages. Got there anyways, fetched my bag and there were a few guesthouse people knocking about, so one took me to his guesthouse, showed me a room, big double bed, private room. More than I wanted to pay or would for a dorm, but figured I’d get like 2 sleeps so worked out fine. Straight to bed until 11am to get over the bus.

Woke up, popped downstairs and one of the guesthouse staff took me on the back of a motorcycle bout 20 mins up the road to Banaue viewing point. From here I walked through the rice terraces for an hour or so, taking loads of pictures and enjoying the pure stunning scenery that comes with it. These terraces have been there for 2000 years, were manmade and all the produce is kept and eaten locally, none are exported as they don’t actually make enough. How on earth they work on the terraces is beyond me, it’s like a maze of ups and downs and very steep edges. Just walking took a lot of concentration so fair play to them for working on them. The people here are all really friendly, but in a good way unlike Manila, where you feel they’re after something. Kids playing in the street, many motorbikes and trikes offering cheap transport, it’s really nice. I’ve hired a man to take me to some other rice terraces tomorrow that are stone walled, whereas these are grass banked. Currently sat in the guesthouse cafe where I’ve had more Chicken Adobo for tea, it’s so nice it’s unreal, very tasty dish whichever meat you have, with soy sauce and caramelised onions. Everything shuts here early it seems, even the guesthouse you have to be in by 10pm, but after my drinking session the other night I’ll take a few days off that I think.

I also today found the best named building I’ve ever seen. The local high school I think it is here is well titled as ‘The Immaculate Conception School’ which was amazing to see, so amusing I had to stop and take a photo of the sign. There are also an abundance or stray looking dogs although I’m sure they have homes, they seem to just walk in and out of houses/shacks as they see fit. There is also loads of chickens roaming around, I saw one being brought into the cafe I’m in, in a bag. So at least I know my chicken adobo is fresh.



Day 58 (Sat 3^rd Oct)



Was awake at 6:45am, yes that is not a typo. Had breakfast and was ready to go by 8am. I had a bloke from the guesthouse waiting to take me on the back of his bike to Batad rice terraces. These are stone walled and considered more impressive than the Banaue ones plus they’re far harder to get too. The trip itself was scary but enjoyable, took about an hour and started on roads, then onto gravel and later onto mud and other various aggregates. I was dropped at the top of the valley which is huge. I got some water and headed off, around 9am and was due to meet my driver back at 2pm. The lift there and back and the fact he waited all day cost 1000 pesos, bout £14 which I think is more than reasonable considering. The walk down to the ‘Tourist Information’ centre took about 45 mins. This was basically a B&Q shed with a register to sign your name, not sure why but I did it anyways. Then I’m pretty sure I went down the wrong tourist path as I saw no one else for a while bar some kids who all asked if I needed a guide and when I said no just straight up asked for money, also said no. I had to climb down terraces and across others, cutting through the villagers houses and grounds to get to the other side, where a waterfall awaited me, although this was another 30 mins walk or so. After just under 2 hours I was paddling in the river near the waterfall and trying to cool down, not easy in mid 30’s heat. The trip down, along with the views and the surroundings were stunning, although the houses/huts on the sides of the hills look very unbalanced, I wouldn’t fancy being there in a monsoon. The rice terrace itself is like an amphitheatre and is impressive. The walk back up took about the same time as the walk down but was a lot harder work. At least I knew the route back which helped. Stopped briefly for some fried rice, which is the local rice. It was nice but seemed no different to any other rice I’ve had really. Once I got to the top I sat down for 15 mins or so before hopping on the back of the bike and heading back to the guesthouse for a shower and a lie down, which was much needed. These 2 days spent looking at the different types of terrace has been amazing. It’s such a different world to anything I’d see at home and even though some people live in houses the size of a couple square metres everyone seems happy, even all the kids running around the place. It’s a far reach even in the Philippines from somewhere like Manila. Tomorrow will see me I hope head further north to Vigan or Laoag, not sure where though, see where the cheapest and most convenient bus goes.

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